Profile: Jason Momoa

Jason Momoa has reportedly been cast in the upcoming remake of the Conan movies, filling a slot previously occupied by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa was born on 1 August 1979 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The nephew of the famous surfer Brian Keaulana, he was raised in Iowa before returning to Hawaii in 1998. A modelling career soon ensued, where he won the country’s Model Of The Year award in 1999, and he soon moved into acting, where he portrayed Jason Ioane in Baywatch Hawaii.

Momoa’s best-known role to the science-fiction community, however, as Ronon Dex on Stargate Atlantis. Momoa’s time on the series was initially uneventful, but a series of issues eventually led him to publicly declare in interviews that he wanted to leave the series before its cancellation was announced. One particular incident was highly publicised, where Momoa removed his trademark dreadlocks and had to have replacements sewn in for his scenes in the show. The process, however, was too painful and arduous, so the 31-year-old actor resorted to wearing his stunt double’s wig during his scenes until a replacement hairpiece could be made and delivered.

After Atlantis finished, Momoa appeared in episodes of Game Of Thrones. A more colourful incident occured when he was attacked in a Hollywood bar, the incident requiring the actor to have more than 140 stitches during reconstructive surgery. He also has two children with domestic partner Lisa Bonet, a daughter named Lola Iolani Momoa, and a son named Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa.